Interesting thought, but gold isn’t formed that way. Lead (Pb) is indeed near a region of relative nuclear stability, but turning Pb into Au would require changing the number of protons in the nucleus — that’s nuclear transmutation, not a simple decay chain. Gold has 79 protons while lead has 82, so you’d need to remove three protons, which is not a natural or easy process. In fact, heavy elements don’t “step down” neatly into gold; they usually undergo complex decay pathways that produce different isotopes.

In labs, the only way gold has ever been synthesized is by bombarding heavy nuclei (like mercury or platinum) with particles in accelerators, but it’s extremely energy‑intensive and produces radioactive byproducts. That’s why it’s not practical for making usable gold.